BOYZONE TO CALL IT A DAY

After almost 25 years entertaining audiences across the planet, Irish boyband Boyzone have confirmed they’ll split later this year.
Ronan, Keith, Michael, Shane and Stephen burst onto the scene back in 1994 with a cover of The Four Seasons’ ’60s classic ‘Working My Way Back To You’.
Though that song hit the big time in their native Ireland, it was their cover of Johnny Bristol’s 1974 single ‘Love Me For A Reason’ that saw them catapulted to stardom in the UK and make it into the ARIA singles chart for the first time.
From there, they were on a roll. 16 more UK top five singles followed including six number ones.
In Australia, they hit the big time with their cover of Cat Stevens’ ‘Father And Son’ (No.2) and ‘No Matter What’ (No.5), as well as hitting the top 50 with other singles like ‘A Different Beat’ and ‘Picture Of You’.
But now, 24 years after that first single appeared, they’ve confirmed they’ll call it a day later in 2018 with their final ever album (and a UK tour in celebration).
“Twenty-five years is a long time,” they say in a statement. “We’re certainly not boys anymore, and we all feel that we should now call time on our lives together as Boyzone and go out on a real high.
“This November we will be releasing our final album, ‘Thank You & Goodnight’. We’ve recorded twelve brand new tracks that we hope you’ll enjoy listening to as much as we’ve enjoyed making them.”
Touchingly, the lead single from the album, ‘I Can Dream’ (released today), features the vocals of bandmember Stephen Gately, who tragically passed away almost nine years ago.
“We came across a demo that he originally recorded for his solo album in 2002 and we’ve had the opportunity to re-work the song and add our harmonies alongside his lead vocal.
“It was a bittersweet experience to hear all our voices together again. It’s the closest the five of us will ever get to being in a room together again making music.”
‘I Can Dream’ (listen below) is available now.
‘Thank You & Goodnight’ will be released on Friday November 16.